Cable hookup: use these top 10 cable attachments to target your training and fine-tune your results - weight lifting equipment

when the subject is lifting weights, many people say that hand position is everything. Some claim that it's all about the angles. Others say you have to go by feel. These different opinions become even more overwhelming when you try to figure out what cable attachment to use and when.

Don't be intimidated by the number of attachments available in the gym. As long as your form is good, you aren't likely to go wrong; with a little creativity virtually any bar can be used for any exercise. To help take the guesswork out of using cable attachments, we list our top 10 choices here, recommend the exercises they should be used for and highlight the advantages they offer.

parallel-arm lat bar

This lat bar has handles at each end that allow you to maintain a neutral grip during pull-downs, rows and curls. During pull-downs and rows, a neutral grip will hit the lower lats, rhomboids and middle traps hard (1) and may be more comfortable for your wrists. When using this bar, make sure you hold your elbows tight along your body as you pull or row. This variety of the pull-down is very similar to a row and will elicit comparable muscle action. When using a neutral grip during curling motions, the brachialis muscle is heavily stressed along with the lateral head of the biceps brachii. (2)

rope

We love all rope exercises because they incorporate gripping strength and a full range of motion with every exercise. Even though the rope can be more difficult to use than the other attachments, you'll find the investment well worth the trouble. Implementing a twist at the end of the motion really makes a difference in the amount of stress you place on the triceps! You can execute triceps pressdowns and overhead extensions, rows and straight-arm pull-downs, hammer and supinated curls, and abdominal crunches. You can even perform single-arm versions of most of these exercises by knotting the unused side around the upper part of the rope.

multi-use v-bar

When this bar connects to a cable it looks like an upside-down V, with its long handles for gripping projecting out to the sides. Because of its design, this bar may relieve some of the load on the wrists during heavy triceps pressdowns. Other exercises you can perform with the V-bar are pronated and supinated rows and pull-downs, depending on how you grip the handle.

single-handle D-grip

Here's the attachment everyone is Familiar with -- simply grab and go. Practically any upperbody muscle in any range of motion can be worked with this attachment and, best of all, you can use it to train your muscles unilaterally (you train each side of your body separately). If one side of your body is weaker than the other, you can really stress it using the D-grip. With this one little handle, you can execute myriad biceps curls; triceps kickbacks, pressdowns and extensions; chest flyes and crossovers; back rows; and lateral raises.

For maximal muscle activation, keep a few tips in mind. For working the triceps brachii, nothing beats the underhand, supinated grip. Using cables and a D-grip is a great way to stimulate chest muscle fibers that may never get stimulated from other exercises. When doing crossovers, do as the name implies and allow your arms to cross over enough so your elbows touch; the final few inches of the movement maximally activate the inner portions of the pecs. Here, the heated discussions about hand rotation may have some merit. Rotating your hands throughout the movement may not directly allow you to recruit more muscle fibers in your chest, but it will allow you to bring your arms closer together or cross over farther.

short straight bar

This bar mimics an Olympic bar in shape, but has a smaller grip width. The exercises performed with it similar to the EZ-bar. Because of its locked and rigid position, however, it places more stress on the wrists. Those trainees with wrist problems may want to avoid using this bar altogether and opt for the straight bar with the rotating sleeve. Fitness pro and physical therapist Lovena Stamatiou-Tuley advises: "Try the EZ-bar and both the straight and rotating-sleeve bar to determine which feels more comfortable, and use that one. Since they stress the muscles the same, the only variable would be the comfort factor. Make sure all exercises are pain-free."

lat bar

As the name implies, the at bar is primarily used when training the lats and other back muscles in the form of pull-downs. The most common lat bar is a long shaft that bends down on both sides. As a general rule, the wider the grip, the greater the upper latissimus. In the pronated (overhand) wide-grip variation, the upper latissimus dorsi, the teres major, the middle and lower trapezius, and the rhomboids are the major back muscles involved. The more narrow your grip, the greater the emphasis on the lower lats and traps. Michael Yessis, PhD, in his gold-standard book Kinesiology of Exercise, explains that it's important to include both wide- and narrow-grip pull-downs in your routine to completely develop the lats and to improve sports performance. (1)